This doesn't strike me as particularly good news. It's not like MS has a history of high quality DVD playback - both the original XBox and the 360 are pretty average. Can a USB 2.0 connection even be fast enough for HD-DVD? I'll leave that to the more technically knowledgeable than me.

Regardless, I don't plan on buying it anyway, if HD-DVD becomes the format to buy for movies - which doesn't seem likely - then I'll buy a dedicated player. What's really going to be screwed up is if developers start making games exclusively in HD-DVD format for the machine...ESPECIALLY if the HD-DVD add on costs a substantial amount.

Anyone want to wager a guess how they'll get the add-on into people's homes? How about Halo 3 being exclusively on HD-DVD? Bastards. Speculation, sure, but how many of you think they wouldn't do they if they thought it would hook people in?

Mark my words - despite what Microsoft has stated previously, if this HD-DVD add-on catches on AT ALL, they'll start manufacturing a version of the system with the drive built-in (which would be fine since HD-DVD is backwards compatible with DVD).

Then we'll have, what, three versions of the 360? Four? Ugh.

I like the 360, but I still think they jumped the gun. Although they are getting a fair amount of momentum now, come next XMas the 360 may end up looking bush-league by comparison, with a bunch of add-on crap sticking out of it.

Brings another question...if Blu-Ray winds up winning the war as a lot of people seem to think...what will MS do for their next console? Propriatary format? They sure won't stick with regular DVDs, and I can't see them doing Sony a favor by using Blu-Ray...although if that becomes the overwhelming favorite I don't know if they'd have a choice.

Simply put, consoles are made for gaming not for moving watching (unless you're playing Metal Gear....then it's both!). The DVD playback is a bonus. So the playback being merely average isn't too big of a deal in my mind.

The big deal, as you said, is wheither or not you'll HAVE to buy this to run some games. If they were smart, they'd make two copies of certian games. One normal, one HD-DVD (a sepcial edition sort of thing).

Of course, another way this may play out is that this CERTIANLY reminds me of the Sega CD, and I wouldn't object to this thing being treated like that. Not as a replacement but a supplament. Make some games just for the HD-DVD drive, but not the big ones. That said, they start treating this like a replacement, they're in some trouble.

On a different note, even if Blu-Ray does win out, there's nothing stopping Microsoft from using HD-DVD in their next console. The GameCube uses mini-dvd's, so I don't see why Microsoft can't stick with this HD-DVD format for their next system.

(edited by El Nastio on 5.1.06 1145)To celebrate the passing of the Troll Amnesty (and for otherwise no reason at all), I present to you the very best of Trolling here on The W. This Troll Moment of the Week is brought to you by;

Goldbergista, who brought us such pieces as wisdom as: "The people on the forums need to see the truth; you need to see that Benoit is garbage… and that Nash, Batista, Hogan, Warrior and Goldberg are the true wrestlers!!"

HD-DVD has been stated that it will not be used for X360 games. Developers generally don't plan for add-ons because it limits their sales, such as the PS2 hard drive that worked for about 3 games.

The HD-DVD add-on player is Microsoft's way of trying to fight Sony's Blu Ray, but it looks flimsy at best. The add-on better be cheaper than a stand-alone player, which looks to cost about $300. HD-DVD has the support of only two movie studios, and those studios are also making Blu Ray versions.

Originally posted by komarkazeThe HD-DVD add-on player is Microsoft's way of trying to fight Sony's Blu Ray, but it looks flimsy at best. The add-on better be cheaper than a stand-alone player, which looks to cost about $300. HD-DVD has the support of only two movie studios, and those studios are also making Blu Ray versions.

What's really going to suck for anyone that buys this is if HD-DVD gets eaten up by Blu-Ray right away. The people that took the chance on the add-on are basically going to be left with an external DVD player to add on to their...uh, internal DVD player. What a deal!

I think at one point HD-DVD and Blu-Ray were going to agree on a standard format but that got killed. Now we are forced to pick a side or wait for the dust to settle. That's the price (literally) we all pay if we want to be cutting edge.

This, along with waiting to see what Sony and Nintendo come out with, is why I just can't reasonably buy a 360 right now. I know Microsoft wanted to get a jump on things but I'm not paying $400 to beta test the next Betamax.

...looks like they are covering all their bases. I'm a little skeptical of how high-quality the drive itself would be, especially compared to Sony's, but we'll see.

I can't take credit for this, but it's funny enough to repost here:

"Okay, so it looks as though we have two legs (HD & Blu-Ray drives) and a torso (Xbox 360) now. I'm assuming that the camera will be used for the head of the Ultimate Xbot, but I'm waiting with baited breath for what Microsoft has up their sleeves for the arms.

Clearly, when fully assembled, the Ultimate Xbot will pick up it's own power supply and mercilessly wail on any competitor's hardware in the generally area. The ring of light is clearly the Matrix of Leadership."

Originally posted by gamespotHowever, [Moore] suggested that whatever the outcome of the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war, the Xbox 360 can adopt the dominant format since its uses an external drive. He also suggested that it's a weak point for PlayStation 3, saying Sony's system is stuck with Blu-ray.

So the fact that neither of these formats are native to the 360 is a *good* thing? Wow, that's some mighty spin... I shouldn't be so amazed, but... wow.

I told my girlfriend about the No Doubt pack, and it was made clear that I would be downloading it. Announced for next year is Pearl Jam's Ten, while Axl Rose seems to be hinting that Chinese Democracy will hit Rock Band too. Meanwhile, Guitar Hero: